Live from Hunsville Alabama

As you may have guessed from the title, I am now in northern Alabama. Last night was my official first camp for this trip. By camping I mean that I broke out the brand new tent. I borrowed a queen size air mattress from my brother. It fits my tent exactly. So I am sleeping in style. Of course it rained last night. The good news is that my tent does not seem to leak.

Tonight is supposed to bring thunder storms. Normally I like those but I am camped on a mountain top over looking the city. We will see how that goes.

Now you may be wondering what the heck I am doing in Alabama. I wonder at it a bit myself. Everyone done here is so friendly and talks so sweetly that they must be up to something. But really I am here because Werner Von Braun built rockets here, Big manly rockets at that. The Saturn V for instance. They have a nice museum on rocketry here. So that is why I came. I spent the day shouldering school children out of the way so I could get a crack at the flight simulator. I also purchased a cardiac arrest special chicken bacon sandwich.

The highlight of the museum was the Saturn V show room. They had one hanging from the ceiling and when no one was looking I crawled up to the back, struck a match against my teeth, and with a flick of my wrist I lit that hulking candle! Ok maybe not, but I did think about it.

Really the cool part (for a nerd) was the rocket engines they had laying about. I mostly took pictures of those. I was interested in their various injector designs, trust chambers, and regeneratively cooled nozzles.

Upon returning to base camp I took a little hike on a trail called rock cracks. It was about the coolest trail I have ever seen. For about one eighth of a mile it wound through narrow fissures in a twenty to thirty foot high rock. The walls were vertical and only a few feet apart. sometimes it became a tunnel. It was very other worldly. I kept expecting to come out the other side into a magical kingdom with unicorns and the like. Monte Sano Sate park. Not bad, not bad at all.

Tomorrow I head to Arkansas. They have a diamond mine there. It's open to the public. I am the public. That means that it is open to me. What I am trying to say here is that there is a big hunking shiny rock out there with my name on it. All I have to do is go pick it up.

Sam's Summary

• I am in Alabama
• I can land a space shuttle.
• I looked at rockes
• The mission to mars simulator is a cheesy, goofy, knock off mall ride.
• I hiked a very middle earth like trail. ( the mines of Moria are around here somewhere)
• Hiho hiho it's off to Arkanas I go.